Category: Uncategorized

I’m not religious, but this is the image that always comes to mind whenever people compliment me for being kind.

I purchased an Uber ride for a drunk stranger on Saturday night. After the girl was whisked off to her apartment, I received some compliments about being kind for calling an Uber and making sure this girl got home safely. Not to shun people for handing me compliments, I’m just horribly shy about receiving what I think are undeserved ones. I want to bring attention some contextual facts that people may want to consider before weighing how much personality affects my kindness behavior.Read More

I started playing an online game called DotA2 a few months ago and was having a lot of trouble being proficient at it (still am). My roommate suggested I watch a series of YouTube videos that follows a former professional StarCraft player, Day[9], as he learns how to play DotA from a former pro-DotA player, Purge.

I really enjoyed the videos because Day[9] is a glowing example of what it means to be a good tutee. I don’t think I seen enough tutoring sessions to figure out what it means to be a good tutee, so I really latched onto these videos when I saw them. I want to highlight a few snippets from the first two videos in the series, and point out what he’s doing right as a pupil.Read More

It’s been awhile since I actively sought out social media. I’ve been privately journaling for a while since 2014. I didn’t like the person I was becoming by putting my entire life on public display. When I used to write about my day-to-day life, I realized I was doing more expositional reporting than I was reflecting on my experiences. Journaling helped me become more comfortable writing down more honest, and sometimes even negative thoughts and gave me space to reflect on them privately.

But now I want to publicly write again. Here are some reasons.Read More

Lessons I Learned While Solo Backpacking Abroad

Context

Instead of attending my 6th semester at UC Berkeley. I decided to take a semester off to travel abroad. I have had whims of this nature every spring semester now since I’ve entered Berkeley. My freshman spring I did rejection therapy. My sophomore spring I decided to hit the gym. However, this year my sporadic nature came early. By mid-way of my Fall semester, I’ve already yearned to do something new. I’ve highlighted some of the reasons in a personal note I wrote in November.

I started my journey in Taiwan. I went with two of my best friends. We explored Taiwan for 10 days before my friends headed back. I went to South Korea next, followed by Japan, taking a brief stop in Hong Kong, explored Southwestern China, journeyed through Vietnam, took a pit stop in Singapore, and eventually returned to Taiwan to relax for two weeks before heading back home. Besides Taiwan, all portions of my travel were solo backpacking, which meant I kept all my belongings in a 55 liter backpack. I stayed in hostels through the duration of the trip and booked transportation on the road. I made friends on the road but spent a large portion of my time alone. Now that my 111 days worth of traveling across Asia is over, here are some reflective points I came across.Read More

Coming into Berkeley my freshman year, I would have never thought I would be taking a break from school. I was ecstatic to immerse myself in the environment of one of the best university in the world. I was gung-ho to make it the best experience of my life.

And yet, it has only been a month since I decided I wanted to take a semester break. I took some time to think about my decision, and ultimately decided this was for the best.

For those of you who wondered why I’m making this jump, let me enumerate my reasons.Read More